ELEPHANT TREE - Bursera microphylla
Maybe, just maybe, my favorite medicine tree in the whole world!
Some observations and notes.
A remarkable plant medicine for depressed white blood cell count
and endogenous and deep tissue infections, and can be helpful in these conditions:
MRSA, Sepsis, Periodontitis, Herpes, Gangrene (bacteria - Clostridium perfringens), Streptococcus spp., Staphlococcus spp., Lyme and its many coinfections, Venomous Bites with Sepsis or Tissue Necrosis, Pediculicide (Lice treatment), Venereal (gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis) and other problematic and deep infections.
Elephant Tree (ET or Bursera) -
Is an antiviral, anti-fungal, antibacterial, astringent, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, mucolytic, diuretic, diaphoretic, emmenagogue (lightly), vasodilator, and immune stimulant.
*Caution - Some of the above conditions that I mentioned are LIFE THREATENING. Elephant Tree might be part of your protocol, but in many of these conditions, you will probably be using antibiotics. Elephant Tree works well in conjunction with antibiotic therapy, and as more bacteria become drug resistant, I believe without any doubt that herbal therapy can play a vital side by side role in fighting these new “Super Bugs”.
If there ever was a time in a serious infection that you did not have access to antibiotics, then a plant medicine like Elephant Tree might just save your life.
Elephant Tree - Bursera microphylla is the species I mostly use as a medicine. It is found in the deep isolated desert mountains in the American Southwest and down into the Sonoran Desert of Baja and the west coast of mainland Mexico. As you travel south, there are others species of Bursera with great history of medicinal uses, especially for fighting problematic tropical infections.
Our species, the one in this write-up, has a profound effect on the immune system.
It will increase phagocytosis, both the numbers, and quality of serum white blood cells (PMNs) as well as granular streaming. You end up making very strong, warrior like white blood cells, and a lot of them! This is crucial when dealing with some of the types of infections that I stated in the beginning. You need to have a constant streaming quantity of vibrant white blood cells to fight infections like MRSA, Lyme, Sepsis, and others.
In Mexico, (not sure on how much research was or has been done) Elephant Tree was used for fighting Venereal diseases. Especially, Syphilis. Syphilis (Treponema pallidum) and Lyme (Borrelia burgdorferi) are both a form of bacteria known as Spirochetes.
It is interesting to note that the genome (genetic coding sequence) of both Treponema and Borrelia here have been mapped. Of the 1041 protein-coding regions in Treponema pallidum, 476 are shared with B. burgdorferi. While similar in a lot of ways, they are of course very different.
In my early treatment of Lyme patients, just knowing it was a spirochete type of bacteria was helpful to me. I looked at the plants that had been used historically for treating Syphilis.
Many of the symptoms of suffering that a Lyme patient goes through are identical to that of a Syphilis patient. However, Syphilis is almost totally eliminated by the use of antibiotics. Lyme disease and many of the co-infections are not.
It is worth noting that plants with a specific affinity for helping fight the bacterial infection of Syphilis are worth trying, especially if known protocols that people are using are not 100% successful.
Elephant Tree is one that I have used for super and sometimes dormant infections like Lyme.
One of my favorite formulas to begin with is:
ETI #1
Elephant Tree - Bursera microphylla - 40%
Yerba Mansa - Anemopsis californica - 30%
Red Root - Ceanothus greggi - 30%
All done as Fresh Plant Extracts for maximum effectiveness. In order to fight serious infections like stated above, you need to start with the strongest and most vibrant plant medicines possible.
The dosage in an acute infectious state will vary from person to person, but 40-60 drops up to 4x a day is a middle figure. Could be slightly less, could be more. Depends on what else the person is taking and which infection we are specifically talking about.
The Yerba Mansa is an effective plant medicine for being antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and in helping with cellular waste removal.
The Red Root is one of the finest Lymphatic Herbal Medicines in the world and is vital to be in any Immune Stimulating/Infection Fighting formula. It essentially keeps the lymphatic system alive and functioning. A lot of people have a hard time grasping the concepts of the lymphatic system. However, if you look at it like this - Civilization is kept healthy by clean water and garbage disposal and without it, our society would become more diseased. The lymphatic system is responsible for clean water (in our case - clean blood in) and garbage removal (dead cells and infectious material out).
Any effective immune formula must have good lymphatic herbs in the formula. It is vital. When you make more white blood cells, you will have more cellular waste.
You need to keep the lymph flowing.
The basic energetic aspects to this formula are -
More White Blood Cells (a lot more) from The Elephant Tree, to actually kill the bacteria or virus.
Decreasing inflammation (especially inflammation from a chronic infection) The Yerba Mansa
Increasing lymphatic movement, a cornerstone concept for cleaning up all the cellular garbage from the fight - That is Red Root.
This formula and these general concepts have served my clients very well, for an amazing array of bacterial and viral infections.